


Monsters Tread Where Angels Hide

by stupor



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Angel Harry Styles, Angel Wings, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Human Niall, Light Angst, M/M, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 20:54:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7907356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stupor/pseuds/stupor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Harry is a fallen angel who loses his wings when he falls in love with a human named Niall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Losing My Religion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has wings and Niall is interested.

**That's me in the corner. That's me in the spotlight losing my religion. Trying to get rid of you.**

 

the treehouse

 

He was staring at the walls of his treehouse when it happened.

Niall, six years old, was looking at the walls when the lights he hadn't seen before turned on. That was when he turned toward the entrance and squinted over them to see a little boy. He wore wings on his back that seemed to make him look really bright. He was too confident for a little boy, but he'd have been lying if he said he wasn't the least bit intimidated.

The other boy looked confused, hair (that was longer than his) curled around his soft jaw which held a small smear of mud. Niall was sure he was going to get it- _he didn't know_ what _he was going to get-_ , but he knew he was in for _something_ that would force him to apologize.

He was forced to do that all the time.

"What are you doing here with no lights on?" The boy asked.

"How'd you turn them all on?"

" _Ta chéria_ ," he annunciated gently. Niall's eyebrows lifted. The boy put up his hands and blinked. "English only?"

"Gaelic _and_ English."

"Hands," the boy said slowly. He had green eyes that looked like they were glowing. He wondered if it was the effect of all the lights around them. "Turned them on with my hands."

"Who are you?" Niall paused a little, small hand clasped around the wooden sword he was holding for a while now. He didn't have many friends, so he thought maybe this kid would be his favorite person (other than his mother, of course. His mother always came first).

"Harry Ara Styles," he answered. He had a pretty mark upon his chest in the shape of a small star. It was bright and delicately inscribed into his skin like a tattoo. "Niall, right?"

He took a step back. "No," he lied.

"No?" Harry asked quietly, picking up a hand and touching one of his wings. His arm was too small to touch the tip and as he turned, Niall could see the strings that went around his shoulders to keep the fake wings on his back. "Do you have other people living inside of your head? Because one of you are named Niall."

_"How would you know?"_   He spat half heartedly, mainly because he was shocked and scared that a stranger knew his name.

"I used to have a friend," Harry skipped over the question. "He was just like you actually, but his name was Seth and he was really funny. We used to play a lot of games. Do you want to play a game?"

Niall dropped the sword. He tried to think about it, really did, and he was taught to stay away from strangers; was doing so well at holding a skeptical front toward this little boy, but he had toy wings that Niall pictured himself wearing, and he said he knew games. He shrugged, "okay."

That was when Harry charged at him with his hands outstretched. Niall stepped back and picked up the miniature sword, imagining it to be the strongest of metals as he brought it forward toward his enemy: _The Demon,_ he thought up a name _. The demon whose eyes bled death and whose teeth were filled with venom_. Niall suddenly became a demon hunter in his thoughts; one that had lost no battle, and as Harry turned as gently as a cat, he thought this was going to be his biggest battle yet. _The Cat Demon_.

Harry laughed and turned on the tips of his toes, his wings brushing one of the walls. The feathers seemed unfazed and as Niall was admiring them, the boy lunged forward and knocked him to the ground.

"Hey!" Niall interjected. "That's cheating."

"No it isn't."

They laid there for a minute or two with their legs tangled. Niall's head was sitting on the soft feathers of Harry's right wing. "Do you like airplanes?"

_"Air planes?"_

He could hear the confusion in his new friend's words. "Don't know what they are?"

After Harry shook his head slowly, Niall grinned a little and stumbled to his feet before closing his eyes a bit so the lights weren't very blinding.

He spread out his arms like that of a plane's, and sent a wide smile toward the boy on the floor. With a trick of the eye, he believed he saw Harry's left wing move a little.

He pressed his lips together and blew air out from his teeth; imitating the sound of a plane's engine. He started running around the expanse of the small room, avoiding the large opening that was meant to be a door.

He glanced at Harry and motioned for him to come along, his small legs trying to go as fast as they could go. The green eyed boy got to his feet slowly but there was excitement burning in his eyes as he let out his arms and followed Niall, running around the treehouse and spitting _'v_ _room_ ' from their mouths.

Niall paused to look at Harry when he stepped too close to the opening on the side of the wooden house.

His small hand reached out to pull him back, and everything slowed around him like he was living a challenge. His fingers tried to reach his shoulder, and they were so, _so_ close, but it wasn't enough.

He would have grabbed nothing if it weren't for the thin straps of his feathered wings.

Niall pulled him back with strength he didn't know he had. "Whoa," he breathed when Harry fell back onto the wooden floor. He stood over him with a frown and hard eyes. "Why'd you do that?"

"I didn't know," Harry answered slowly, his smile disappearing. One of the wings were bent. Niall thought it was some kind of metaphor for how he felt, and the one beside it might have been a metaphor for how proper Harry was. "Are you mad at me?"

He crossed his arms. "No," he lied a little, fighting against the roll of his eyes. He let it through but did it discretely.

"Hey," the little boy on the floor frowned. He stumbled to his feet and his eyebrows furrowed. "Do you want the extensions? They kind of hurt."

Niall wanted to break the other wing to make it even, but Harry looked almost upset and it didn't make him feel very well, so he just breathed out silently. "They're called wings, Harry."

"That's not what Gabriel calls them."

"Who's Gabriel?"

"Friend," Harry hummed. "You guys could meet if he ever comes down. He doesn't like it down here."

Niall was prepared to ask so many questions because he was so confused because _Who's Gabriel and what does he mean by down here?_ , but Harry's eyes watered. "What's wrong?"

"Back hurts," he winced. "Extensions hurt me, Niall. Extensions hurt bad, are they broken? Alexander knows how to fix them, but he's still gonna be mad at me."

"Take them off."

Harry shook his head and Niall realized with much horror that he was bleeding. Just above his shoulder blade and under the broken wing was a nasty cut that made his eyes go wide. "We gotta get out and go to my mom. She's-"

"I need to see Alexander," he mumbled. "He can help me. Can't talk to strangers like you. My dad said so."

"My mom's a doctor."

Harry shook his head and walked to the entrance. "I need to go."

"Harry-"

"I'll come back soon."


	2. Don't Mind Me

**Don't mind me, I was just thinking of you. I feel alive inside, oh finally, I feel alive inside.**

 

the treehouse

 

 _Soon_ was four years later.

Harry promised to come back to Niall _soon_ and Niall thought he'd forgotten all about him until the night he climbed the ladder of his treehouse with tears on his (ten year old) cheeks. His eyes were bloodshot but anyone could still have seen the pure blue of them. Anyone would compare the color to the deepest of oceans, only there were specks of yellow caught in his irises that only Harry immediately noticed.

Niall wiped at his face as his feet stopped inside the wooden shelter. He stopped walking upon seeing a small shadow in the corner of the room, crossing his arms and stubbornly scowling. He didn't know who the kid was but he wasn't welcomed and it was raining and he was upset and his dog died and _he didn't know who the kid was._ He didn't know until he stepped from the shadows and Niall mumbled, "you again," with his lips pulled into a frown.

Harry looked the other boy over and gently pushed his soaked hair away from his face.

He dropped to the floor with his legs sprawled out. Niall rose an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Lie with me," he smiled a little, waving a hand. Niall shrugged and walked over, trying to get to the floor as gently as Harry did, and failing.

"It rains when God cries," Niall whispered, looking over at his friend and pausing to breathe. "That's what my mom tells me, anyway."

"Not the truth," is the response, just as quiet as Niall had spoken. He played with his friend's wings and Harry glanced at him with a lopsided smile.

"Really?" If it were anyone else, Niall's follow up question would have been, _How do you know?,_ but he knew Harry knew a lot about things and he trusted him enough to not jump down his throat.

"Clouds just can't carry all the water in the sky."

"That's cool," he said.

"So cool."

"Your wings are cool too. My friend gets to wear them every Halloween because she's a girl. Dad won't let me wear them."

"Wanna try mine on?"

He smiled widely and nodded. Spurred on by his friend's excitement, Harry quickly shrugged off his wings carefully and held them out to him. Niall hooked his arms under the loops and though Harry always moved so gently and with ease, Niall nearly fell back. They were too heavy for his back and he brought one finger to a feather just for it to fall loose and into the palm of his hand.

He turned to Harry, ready to apologize (because he most definitely didn't mean to ruin his toy that was obviously his favorite), but Harry was staring at the sky outside.

The sky had darkened and the rain was coming down hard. Thunder sounded and Niall put the fallen feather in his pocket before shrugging off the wings and looking at Harry who looked frightened. "Afraid of thunder?"

"Afraid of its maker," Harry muttered. Niall walked closer to look at him and saw that his eyes were a brighter green than before.

"What's that mean?"

Lightning split the sky in half and Harry turned to him. "I have to go. That all right with you? I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."

"You said that last time."

"I do not break my word, Niall. I do not disrespect my friends like that."

The phrasing made Niall feel a bit older than he really was. Harry spoke like an adult with every word he said. "I believe you then," he said quietly.

Harry shrugged his wings on and looked up at the wild sky above them through the window opening. "Stay in here until the rain clears up, yeah? Lightning too, don't go out when there's lightning."

"Stay then."

" _You_ ," he pointed at his chest. "I'll be fine. I'm talking to _you_."


	3. Blackbird

**Take these broken wings and learn to fly.**

 

the house

 

Harry found Niall's house the night after.

Niall was busying himself by cleaning his bedroom (because his parent's threatened him. That was fine though, because he swore he was going to do it anyway). He was sitting in the center of his bedroom, his hands holding his broken Spiderman figure. Harry was watching him through the window of the balcony, his body swallowed by the night and his eyes bright green with curiosity. He didn't know Niall very much, but he thought he liked him.

Niall paused from trying to stick the arm of his toy back where it belonged, feeling quite different. He was used to the feeling, so he immediately smiled and lifted his head toward the large glass door, standing to his feet and walking over the mess of other toys toward Harry. He unlocked the door and the first thing he noticed was the absence of his friend's wings.

Harry walked into the room with little ease. He was leaning a little to the right; looked unbalanced. "Niall," he greeted quietly. "Hello."

"Are you hurt?"

"My parents and their friends don't trust me down here."

Niall frowned, not knowing what that meant. _Did he live in the same building as him? Was he not allowed to hang out with friends?_

"I need to be watched for a while."

That was when Niall noticed how different his eyes were. The bright green he was used to seeing seemed tired and faded. "Have you been crying?"

Harry scowled, lips twisting and eyes darkening for a moment. He puffed out his chest. "I don't cry," he said slowly. "Never have. That's showing weakness and we're not allowed to show weakness."

Niall nodded, though he didn't believe him. "Have you got tired of your wings?"

His eyes widened and he was quick to respond with, "No! No, never. Just can't wear them out here anymore." He reached down and his fingers slipped under the neck of his black shirt before bringing out a chain. There was only one charm, a black, heavy looking wing. It was rather small and very pretty, but Harry didn't seem to like it. "Only the ones being watched have to wear their wings on their chest."

Niall didn't feel as happy as he was when he saw Harry standing outside of his balcony because he thought maybe they'd play a game and make jokes, but he was sad and he didn't have his wings and that seemed to somehow make it worse. "I'll make you wings."

"Not the same," He mumbled under his breath. He leaned against the wall, but awkwardly. It was quiet for a moment after that until Harry's voice spoke up. "Does crying make things better for you?"

"Sometimes."

"Crying won't change what's happened."

Niall nodded and walked back to his broken spidey figure, grabbing it and walking back toward the window. "After you cry about what's broken," Niall turned the toy over and held the broken arm in the palm of his other hand, showing Harry. He looked up and offered a really small smile. "You see you can't fix it, and..." He moved to the side to drop the toy in the garbage basin. "You can't do anything with something that's broken."

"That's very Achlys of you. Very morbid, that's what my dad says."

"Achlys," Niall repeated. "What's that?"

"The only weak one of us all. Goddess of Sadness and Misery."

"Oh."

Harry reached down to take the toy, looking down at it before looking at Niall. "I can't see you for a while until it's allowed."

"How long?"

"For a while, but I'll come back. Don't forget about me, yeah?"

"Never."

"Is that your word, Niall? I will hold it above your life."

Niall took a step back. "What does that mean?"

" _Ypérocho eínai i zoí mou, kai eilikrinís eínai i luxe sas._ "

He rolled his eyes. "Gaelic and English. I don't know what that means."

"I'll see you again."

"Is that what that means?"

Harry smiled childishly. "No." He walked over to the balcony and closed the window behind him, waving a hand before climbing down.


	4. Sour Candy

**I felt the thunder, Mr. Don't Look So Scared**.

 

an apartment

 

"He wouldn't dare do it," Harry swore under his breath, though his hands were shaking like his instinct was telling him otherwise. He was biting down on his lips, his eyes hidden from the smaller boy who was standing on the roof of his friend's apartment. Harry always hated Zayn, but Niall seemed to trust him with everything.

His eyes widened as Niall took a step forward, the loud city on the ground still going about the night like there wasn't a seventeen year old kid about to lunge himself from the top of a building known for a number of suicides. He moved as quietly as he could, squinting his eyes and licking his lips, the sweet blood nearly staining his teeth and tongue with red.

"Don't do it, Horan." He could already feel Osiris breathing down his neck about how useless humans were. _They're only for fun_ , he'd say as his eyes began to brighten with yet another life he'd take, _Beautiful toys that break under pressure. And when the world gets tired of them like a child gets tired of their toys, they must be got rid of. Why do you think that is?_ Harry could already hear the bitter amusement as he answered the question himself. _Because th_ _ings that_ _must go must go._

"Can't save you if you do it. Can't save people who don't want to save themselves." He watched with his eyes wide as Niall shook his head and breathed calmly. He never understood why some people were so okay with dying if they weren't certain of what happened after death. He'd heard a few of their theories: Riding in a chariot with whom they called Death, lingering the earth with just a soul and no body, floating through the ceiling into the sky and whatever goes beyond that, living in a utopia if you've been a nice boy or girl, or sitting with the Devil if you've been naughty your whole life.

The door behind Niall opened and out walked Zayn, cigarette lit and brown eyes amused. He tapped Niall on the shoulder and Harry frowned as the blonde seventeen year old smiled at him and shook his head. _Just thinking_ , he mouthed. _About ending it_ , Harry wanted to finish.

Zayn shrugged and held out the lit Lucky Strike. Harry went back to worrying when Niall took the small nicotine stick and held it between his teeth. "Son of a-" He stopped himself and rolled his eyes at the sky, not wanting anyone lingering around to hear anything he wouldn't have said in front of his mother. " _What a loser._ "

Niall coughed and Harry smiled, only slightly amused by his reaction. He knew he'd get used to it; get used to blackening his lungs and shortening his breath until he could only breathe through a tube. The only good thing that came with Zayn always being around Niall was the fact that he managed to keep him alive.

He would have to thank him for that in some kind of way.


	5. Spark

**Your life's about to start and you just don't know when.**

 

the bar

 

Niall was 19 years old when Harry came back. He was at his favorite bar on Halloween night and everyone was in a costume. He himself was dressed as a skeleton, black and white face paint nearly smearing with the heat. He didn't know it was Harry he saw from across the bar, but he knew he was good looking and he was dressed as a bird with a mask and bright white wings.

He had white ears atop his head that reminded him of a mouse. It was a bright headband and Niall couldn't help but laugh because the kid didn't even have his costume aligned and he still stood out against the crowd.

He looked down at his hands and the bartender approached him carrying a pink drink. He looked at the older man that never got his order wrong. It was never too late to mess up, apparently. "Didn't order this, Rory."

"Don't attack me, Horan. Guy with the wings ordered it for you. Wanted me to give you a message."

Niall leaned over to look at him. He was facing him but it was hard to tell if he was looking. The guy pushed his long hair away from his eyes and then waved at him like he was excited. Niall pretended he wasn't captivated. He looked at Rory with skepticism. "What's his message?"

"Lovely is my life and honest is your word."

He shook his head away from the drink. "Why is it glowing pink?"

"My Barbie Drink. Asked for it specifically."

"Never heard of that before in my life."

Rory dropped the drink in front of him and walked away without a glance his way. Niall looked at the long haired guy who was still facing him. He was sitting with his back properly straight, a glass of water in front of him. His hands were folded on the counter like he was a patient boy waiting for a teacher to give him instructions. Niall lifted an eyebrow and picked up his hand to wave gently at him, mostly to check if he was looking at him.

The man waved back energetically before arranging his mask and standing from his seat, turning back and waving a hand toward him.

Looking between him and the drink, Niall guessed he had nothing better to do than to hook up with someone. He got off his chair, said goodbye to a stressed Rory, and followed the cat-like man who moved slowly through the crowd.

It wasn't until the man opened the front doors that he knew who he was, and he ran to reach him. He stumbled outside and turned to see the badly costumed boy leaning against the brick of the bar. "Harry," he breathed out. "It's you, isn't it?"

"Yet you looked so confused," his hands went to pull the mask from his face, his green eyes immediately finding Niall. "Nice drink, right?"

"Didn't try it."

"Neither did I, but the color was really pretty."

"Pretty?" He asked.

Harry smiled and nodded, pushing his hair away from his eyes. Niall wore a smile through it all. It'd been so long since he'd seen him and he was standing in front of him wearing his fake wings, only he got a new, bigger pair. "Pink is my favorite. You like it too."

"How do you know I like pink?"

"I told you you wouldn't see me for a while. Never said I wouldn't be seeing you."

"Stalking me?"

Harry laughed softly. "Guarding you."

Niall slipped a hand in his pocket, fingers grazing his lucky feather and latching onto two cigarettes before offering one to his friend. "Want one?"

He shook his head and reached out to take them both. "I hate that you took the habit. Osiris will have you soon if you keep burning your lungs."

"What do you ever talk about?"

"Lord of the Dead. He goes for the ones that kill themselves first."

Niall shook it off but didn't ask for the Lucky Strikes back. Instead, he looked at Harry and smiled. "They're not fake, are they?"

"Mythology? No, not fake at all."

"The wings," he corrected himself. "They're not fake, are they? That's why you bled that one time one of them broke?"

"When I come down, I need to disguise myself by charming them. They look fake sometimes. Other times they can be charmed into jewelry."

"I wore them once."

"That's why I needed to be watched. Zeus was out that night letting out his aggravation in a productive way and I was seen."

"Shouldn't have anyone touching them?"

"It's a sign of trust that comes only from love, and love between me and a human is forbidden."

Niall nodded but said nothing.

"My fault. I should have been more careful."

He shook his head. "Are you here for good?"

"Saw you crying yesterday."

"How is that important?" His jaw tightened.

"Your grandmother died two weeks before then and it was the fourth time that you cried. Why do you cry for her life more than once though you cry just one time for everything else that's broken?"

"She was my grandmother, Harry. Not an old, broken toy."

"I made sure she died gracefully and after you said your farewells."

He looked up at him under hooded eyes. "She died by your hand?" He always found it in him to talk just as properly as Harry did when he was around. It made him feel mature. But right now he felt betrayed. He was repulsed.

"She died by the hand of Osiris because she was ready to go and things that must go must go. She went delicately and she went willing."

"Willing?"

"Yes. People near death accept it, and when they don't, they don't go gently into-"

"No more of that."

Harry's eyebrows frowned. "No more of what?"

"Whatever you're reciting to me. Is that all you came here for? To ask why I've been mourning the death of my grandmother?"

Harry tilted his head in thought. "You have a lot of boyfriends. I'd like to know about that, too."

 _Straight to the point with it_ , Niall thought. His eyes widened. "Just people to help me with my frustrations."

Harry still looked confused.

"They're not important if that's the answer to your question. I see them only once and we don't talk again."

"That's dangerous. You people are vulnerable when it comes to intimacy. Vulnerability is weakness and-"

"So is crying, I've heard it all before. If I'm so weak, why is it that you always come by?"

"Because I like you," he admitted. He looked up at the sky that was beginning to cloud over, letting out a breath. "I should go."

"I'll see you in a few years then."

"You cannot promise me that. But I promise _I'll_ see _you_ everyday until the day we meet again."

"Learn slang while you're stalking me, yeah? It's tiring to listen to you quote Shakespearians."

"Learn Greek and we can talk slang in that language." Harry turned and walked away with his head down, white wings grazing the dirty wall of the bar but not dirtying.


	6. Upside Down

**Another shot to hell.**

 

a house

 

Two years later, on Valentines Day, Niall was at a small house party. He was out on the porch when the door to the house opened and three people stepped out. He didn't look up, just kept his eyes on the floor. His eyes ran over their feet, one of the men were wearing combat boots, while the other one, whom was behind the two in front, wore sparkling pink ones. They were rather small and Niall smiled to himself because the color was _pretty_.

The woman was wearing black flats and Niall looked away as she walked past him with Combat Boots, leaving Sparkling Pink Boots behind.

He picked at his nails until the last guy walked over to him and sat in the space on the other side of his hip. The man's knee brushed his and as Niall looked up, he felt a small smile form on his lips.

Harry, whose wings looked small, sat beside him with his eyes on the floor. "I think they know I like you."

Niall licked his lips and pointed to the sky. " _They_ up _there_?"

He nodded. "Yeah. They've been very quiet around me."

"Maybe it's not you they have a problem with."

Harry smiled. "No. They're watching me as we speak."

Niall quickly stood, eyes widening. "Are you suicidal?"

"Not allowed to be."

The clouds darkened and Harry looked up at them with a sigh. "Zeus," he whispered. He looked at Niall. "He's such a snitch. I got you something."

"I'm not going to be part of this. I don't know why you-"

Harry took whatever was sitting beside him and dropped it in Niall's hands, standing to his feet. Niall looked at the box of chocolates and looked at Harry slowly. "Happy Valentines Day. I know you don't celebrate it because you don't believe in love and stuff, but this is the only human holiday I think is actually quite nice. Mainly because my favorite color is everywhere in shapes of hearts. The color-"

"Pink," He interrupted him. "Yeah, yeah I know. Why are you so nervous? Is it because they're watching you? Why don't-"

"Don't care about them right now. I care about us."

He couldn't help the blush in his cheeks as he smiled. "There's an us?"

"My heart is beating really fast, but so is yours, so yeah. That's how it goes, I think."

He smiled and looked at Harry with a small smile. Harry took the box of chocolates from his hand and Niall, confused, watched as he set them down on the bench and then stood to his full height, the feathers of his wings blowing in the wind. "What are you doing?"

Harry smiled and brought both hands to Niall's chest, fixing his tie before smiling and taking a breath.

"Harry?"

He answered the question by pressing his lips against his.


	7. End of All Time

**By the way, I ought to let you know. The equator peeled off when I let you go.**

 

the cafe/the park

 

It was only two days after they kissed that Niall saw Harry. It was three in the morning and he was sitting at a cafe, his cup of coffee there to help him stay awake. He was staring at the bitter drink when Harry slipped in from the opposite side.

_No wings_ , he noticed. Harry had no wings on his back and no winged charm around his neck in the shape of a necklace. "Where are they?" He asked.

He looked up and saw the dark circles around Harry's eyes, like he hadn't been able to sleep properly in years, though he saw him just two days ago. His eyes were a dull color, his lips chapped but beautiful nonetheless. His skin didn't look as bright as it always did. Niall took a sip of his drink to sooth the ache in his throat that came with panic. "Got stripped of them," Harry said almost too slowly.

"What do you mean stripped of your wings?"

"I mean I broke a law and I-" He paused to breathe, his voice coming out hoarse. Niall heard how broken he sounded. "And I didn't deserve to be one of them." He leaned over the cushion under his back but sat up quickly with a wince. Niall imagined there to be two curvilinear lines bleeding and big where his wings used to come from.

"Ask for forgiveness and never come down. Get your wings back."

"I can't just take them back, and definitely not under those circumstances. _They're gone_. For good, I feel it in my blood and my hands. I feel the loss in my bones and feel the weakness behind my eyes. I can only get them back if I have something left of them," He choked out quietly. "I have nothing, Niall. I feel like nothing."

"I have a feather."

Harry looked up, his dull eyes reaching Niall's bright blue ones. "What?"

"A feather. Took it when we were ten."

" _You_ were ten. _I_ was ten and a-"

Niall fought the urge to push Harry's hair back. "Took it when we were ten," he interrupted.

"And you still have it?"

Niall reached into the pocket of his heavy jacket and pulled out the lovely, bright white feather. "Keep it with me everywhere I go."

Harry thanked him, stood to his feet, put a hand over Niall's wrist, pulled him to his feet, kissed him quickly on his lips, and turned slowly. "Let's go."

"Where?"

"My wings."

**& &**

"This is a park," Niall mumbled, kicking the dead leaves and looking up at the dark sky. The moon was bright and he was cold, but he knew how important it was for Harry to get back what belonged to him.

Harry walked to the further left where everything was secluded and Niall followed behind; a safe distance away. He cupped the feather that Niall had given him, cupping it with the palms of his hands before bringing it to his mouth. Niall watched his jaw move, and knew he was whispering.

With one final word, Harry let the feather go, and Niall broke out into a sprint toward him, making them both stumble back.

"Hey, that was my _fucking_ feather. Why would you do that? That was my lucky feather. That doesn't belong to-"

"Why is it turning black?"

He turned to the feather that was still flying in the wind. It _was_ turning black; the edges seeming to fade into the dark color and covering the middle area. His mouth dropped open and his eyes were kept on it, fingers frozen on Harry's chest.

Harry fell forward and Niall's eyes softened. He let him go and watched as he fell to his knees.

"No," Harry whimpered a little. "No, no."

It sounded a little like he was crying. Niall lowered himself to his knees and noticed the sweat beading on his forehead, reaching down to pull his shirt over his head. Harry's eyes widened. "Hey, what's wrong? What do I need to do?"

He shook his head and his shaking hands reached his back, using his fingers to try to pull at his skin. Niall looked at Harry's back at what looked like dark veins coming from the thin skin. He cursed under his breath before touching it, feeling something and pulling it from the bleeding wounds. "What the-" he looked down at the item and saw that it was a black feather; a soft, beautiful thing.

Harry's hand locked around Niall's wrist and his eyes watered. His lips quivered and Niall shook his head.

"Don't do that. _You don't cry_ , you told me that. You don't have weaknesses. People like you don't have weaknesses."

"Black," he choked out between strangled breaths. Harry's fingers fell to his sides and he turned, stuffing his head between the crook of Niall's neck. He let out a sob and Niall shook his head because this wasn't suppose to happen. He held onto Harry and looked down at his bleeding back as black feathers started growing from his skin. "Not black," he whimpered.

Niall felt his own eyes burn. "Why are they black?"

"Not my wings anymore," Harry answered, voice stricken with pain. He felt his fingers dig into his biceps. "Not mine. They're black and not white and not pure and not for angels, and they're _not my wings, Niall._ "

"Make them yours."

Harry shook his head before leaning back and clawing at his back. He stood and dug his nails into the skin, forcing his hands to reach something behind him. He was crying the whole way through and Niall just stared at the disdain in front of him. He wanted to help but didn't know how. "Get them off of me!" He yelled loudly.

"My fault," Niall whispered to himself. Harry's eyes reached his with too much sadness and regret and misery. "It is, isn't it?"

He looked away and struggled to rip the oncoming wings from his back, but they kept growing back and getting longer and longer and they were so black and beautiful, but that was Niall's opinion. Everything looked beautiful on Harry. "Get them off of me! _Tragikí eínai i zoí mou!_ "

"This is my fault. It was me. You fell in love with me and this is what happened. Fuck." Niall stood and ran over to him, wiping his face to seem stronger than he really was.

He took Harry's hands and forced them up, locking his wrists in his hands. "Tragic is my life."

"Look at me," Niall demanded. "Your life is not tragic because you found someone. Don't do that shit, okay? You can't help that."

Harry shook his head too quickly. "I don't want this."

"Don't want what? The wings? The wings are yours, Harry. They belong to you. They're black, yes. Not white like they were before, but this is what you have now and you can't change that."

"You don't get it. I've fallen. I'm not one of them anymore."

"Was it any better before?"

There was a thick, lingering silence until Harry answered. His wings had grown into these large extensions on his back, the glistening feathers amazing Niall. They were the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen on Harry.

"No."


	8. The Driver

**The sun will rise with my name on your lips.**

 

the park

 

Niall watched Harry as he stood too far away, his large wings making him look straight from a movie. He was to the side, head up to the sky. Niall didn't like seeing Harry so distraught and defenseless and disgusted by what was part of him.

It wasn't until he took a step forward to suggest leaving the empty park that he saw a man walking from the entrance toward Harry. He walked slowly but purposefully, gently but like he could handle himself. There was no doubt he was one of them.

He watched as Harry's wide eyes went to him, lips moving and hands shaking at his sides. The man looked at him with disinterest as he put his hands in his pockets. There were no wings on his back and his face twisted in disgust as he looked at the ones on Harry's back.

Harry said something and the man shook his head. Niall crossed his arms. He was useless under the given circumstances. The man reached over into his pocket and pulled out an object. He pressed something and a flame appeared. _A lighter?_

Niall shook his head and took a small step forward, both Harry and the guy's heads turning toward him. Only Harry seemed to notice him. The man shook it off and looked back at the burning flame.

Harry nodded slowly. _(Too slowly.)_ His back hunched before he turned around and got down on his knees. Niall felt his eyes burn as the man brought the lit lighter to the set of black wings, making them catch fire.

That was when Niall broke out into a run, the sound of Harry's sharp yells of pain making his ears hurt. The man snapped his head to the side. "Harry!" Niall called, trying to get to him before the flames did.

He reached him and frowned, looking down at Harry before going for the man, pushing him back against the ground. A hand came up to pull him away from his chest and Niall glared at the dark- haired man, his tan skin making his brown eyes more prominent. "This is him, then," the man said. He sounded amused.

Niall heard the waver of his voice as he choked out, "You're hurting him."

"I'm saving him from the mistake he made of his life."

Harry yelled out again and Niall furiously wiped at his face, shoving the man's hands away from him. "Stop it, you fucking sadist. He's screaming."

"I don't believe you know who I am, mundane."

" _I don't care_ who _you are."_

The man glanced down at Harry who was barely moving anymore. The wings on his back were becoming more disfigured. "Must be his eyes, Ara Styles. Very sultry but innocent at the same time. Bright blues."

Niall's jaw tightened and his fists locked. "I swear to god-"

The man interrupted him with a shrill laugh. "A swear to your god. That will do nothing against me. I can swear on the lives of anyone, but who are you to swear on the life of someone bigger than you are? A god you know nothing of." He looked down at him. "A god you don't even know exists," he spat at him.

Harry called out one last time and Niall sprung forward with his fist raised. He aimed for the man's gut but his hand was caught and he was thrown back, a fist coming up to the side of his face. He tasted the blood in his mouth before he felt the pain, and glared up at the man. "Let him go," Niall coughed.

The man just wiped his hand on his pants and walked to Harry, holding out a hand and helping him to his feet. There was ash swimming in the air around them but Niall was too busy watching the interaction between the two men. "Come on, Ara Styles. Should have at least chosen someone less hot headed."

"Is it done?" Was the first thing Niall heard him say since being set on fire. There was nothing on his back anymore.

"Yes."

Harry nodded and turned to look at Niall, his eyes softening before he limped over to him, raising a hand to touch the side of his face. "What's happened to you?"

Niall shook his head. "You're hurt. I'm fine, I'm fine, are you okay?"

"Hurts a little."

"Don't spare me of your real feelings."

"Feel like shit," Harry joked.

The man walked to their side, watching Harry touch Niall with such admiration that he was almost... _jealous?_ "And since you have left the side of the angels, you will not-"

"Be limited and watch my every move."

"You can never return, Ara Styles. You will not be forgiven. You're lucky your life has at least been spared."

"Live long and live healthy, Zeus. Tell my sister I will not forget her, and tell my mother she has never wronged me. It was no one's fault but my own that I've ended up here."

"Right you are."

Niall held onto Harry as the man walked away just as slowly as he came. "What was that?"

"Mercy," Harry whispered. "I've been stripped of my wings completely now."

"So you're one of me?"

Harry nodded and Niall bit down on his lip. "A mundane. But don't expect me to cry over anything. Chances are you will die first and I will shed not one tear for your life. Osiris will take you gently if he is not too upset with me."

"What are those chances?"

"Very slim. He killed his own brother."

"Lovely."

"Very," Harry smiled. "Now take me someplace to rest so I have time to heal. I feel exhausted."


	9. Long, Long Way

**Long way down if you fall,**  
**And it's a long way back if you get lost**.

 

home

 

His teeth were aching, growing probably, but they hurt him so much and he didn't know how to cope with the feeling, being kept in the dark for a while now.

He had his hands over his (widely agape) mouth, his incisors stabbing his bottom lip and making him taste his own blood. It was metallic and thick and unhealthy and _he deserved it, "don't forget that you deserve it,"_ the older man spat at him.

His teeth were hurting him so much that he sat with his knees his chest, too small to think of saving himself. He kept his eyes closed, afraid of the dark though he'd never admit it aloud.

 _Two,_ he thought to himself. They said he'd come out in two- but _what?_ \- days? eternities (because that's what it felt like to him)?, hours?, minutes? They must have thrown him inside about three days ago, and he was so weak, _so, so weak._

His hands felt numb, back heavy, legs aching and _he deserved it._

He felt something in his chest lurch forward as something moved above him, and that was when he lifted his head, hands shielding his eyes from the bright light that made them strain. " _I knew it,"_ someone hissed.

He shakily stood to his feet only to fall back down onto his knees.

"Don't move," a girl ordered. Niall thought he nodded, pushing his hands into the dirt and coughing, blood frothing past his lips and onto the gravel and _where was he?_ Blood kept dispensing from his mouth and his eyes were wild as the girl hooked an arm under his arms to pull him along with her.

He fell into the gravel and coughed again, looking up at her with dark, weak eyes that made him feel too vulnerable. _She was one of them,_ he thought. He knew it; they all moved gently and it was something he tried to perfect after all those years. _And she was beautiful._ " _Min me skotóseis, enó eimai sta gónatá mou. Periménete gia ména na párei sta podia mou_ ," he said quietly. He barely heard it himself but he had no doubt she heard him.

"I did not come here to kill you," she stepped back, small necklace clasped around her neck.

Niall glanced up and shook his head. "You're all trying to kill me."

"Stand up," she said quietly. He nodded and struggled to his feet, shaking her hand away when she tried to help. _The backyard of his childhood home._ He could see his old treehouse from where he stood, the police tape on the glass door that lead to his kitchen. "Are you hurt?"

"I don't need your help. Gaminéno psycho."

"He has taught you Greek," she said, pressing her hands into her pocket.

Niall pointed at them and shook his head. "If you're trying to kill me when I least expect it, I think you should know that I will always be expecting."

Her head tilted, taking out a small ring that looked like it'd aged. "We are not as cowardice as your kind is," she cleared her throat, turning the ring in her hand and looking at it before lifting to look at him, glowing green eyes reaching his sick blue ones. "An old man died when I was ten years old and I really liked his ring. It was written in Hebrew, said something about love. My brother asked him if the person he loved could keep it, and the man said yes."

"I'm dying," Niall mumbled.

"He gave it to me two days later and I kept it with me till this day."

Niall fell to the ground again and the girl walked to him, her dark hair curling around her sharp jaw. The winged necklace around her neck made him smile a little. "He charmed it for protection."

The girl kneeled forward holding out the ring with a sad frown of longing. He could see him in her eyes and her hand. Niall could feel the pull toward her. "You look like him," he choked out weakly.

"I don't need it as much as you do. I want you to tell him that I'm not giving it away because I hate him. Tell him it's because I love him and care for him," she smiled a little. "He's always been one of wisdom and if he loves you enough to give up his own wings, I think I should do what I can to keep you both happy."

"He talks a lot about you," Niall whispered, taking the ring from her hand. "Never bad things. He didn't believe for a moment you ever hated him."

"He's always been insecure. That's why he liked it down here; made him feel fearless."

"I'll tell him," Niall nodded.

"He's down by the cemetery waiting for you."

"What?"

"That's where they told him you were. He's been there for two days looking."

There was a rush of wind that made Niall feel empty inside. "He loves you Gemma Ara Styles," Niall said, hearing the hurt in her voice as she spoke about how much her brother loved him. He looked up at her only to see she was already gone.

He kept the ring in his hand as he shakily stood to his feet and began to find Harry.


	10. Ghosts That We Knew

**You knelt beside my hope torn apart but the ghosts that we knew will flicker from view.**

 

the cemetery

 

Harry thought he was insane. He stood with his back facing the cemetery entrance, his eyes reading the names on the gravestones, but the letters jumped a little. He took small, shaky breaths that left his lips in choppy exhales, and he thought he was insane. He looked down at the darkest stone and frustration kept eating at his head and he knew so many languages, could talk fluently in almost all of them, but why couldn't he read anymore?

He pressed his hands over his head and drew back, looking down at his palms and frowning. It was a sad realization that Niall was probably somewhere in the cemetery waiting for him and he couldn't even read and now he was crying. Harry was _crying_ and it was something he wasn't used to. He wasn't used to feeling pathetic and sorry and vulnerable and so _pathetic_.

He bowed his head and closed his eyes, feeling so desperate that he was literally imagining Niall's voice. "Don't do that now," his voice pushed in his head, probably another side effect of being what he was now.

Harry laughed a little; a bitter, this-is-what-my-life-is-now laugh that shook his body and he looked at another jagged gravestone that was topped over a body (because that's what humans did when one of their kind died. They buried them 6 feet in the ground and then built buildings over them when the space was full enough.) and laughed again because the damn letters were shaking and moving and jumping and they weren't still enough to read. He could see there was an 'e' but it was backwards and _why can't he read?_ "Hell," he mumbled before his eyes widened and he looked up at the sky, worried somebody might have heard. "Sorry," he whispered to no one specific. "Min kratáte óti enantíon tis zoís tou."

"She's a very lovely person. Gemma, that is," he heard Niall say. It was a low voice, but it was different than the ones that had been screaming in his head.

He turned and his eyes widened, heart skipping a beat and lurching toward Niall who was walking toward him. The skin above his left eye was split and he had a limp to his walk. Harry absentmindedly began picking at the star-shaped scar at his chest. "You again," he smiled, a small one that bled sadness and shameless desperation. _And Harry was desperate._ "Finally decided to show up."

"I heard from a reliable source that you believed me to be buried somewhere here. Decided I'd spare you the search."

"Is that what you're doing? You look like you just crawled from-" he glanced back at the stone beside him, eyes narrowing on the words- trying to find recognition in the name- before shrugging and looking up, "this guy's grave."

Niall neared him and when he was close enough, his collar was caught by Harry's thin fingers, pulling him forward for a hug. They stood with their arms entwined before Harry pulled away, looking down at Niall's hand which was clasped too tightly for normal against his chest.

He rose an eyebrow. "Are you hurt?"

Niall shook his head and licked his lips, opening his hand and looking at Harry whose eyes immediately widened, lips pulling down into a frown. "She wanted me to tell you she's not giving it back because she hates you, but because she loves you."

His jaw tightened. "It's suppose to protect her."

"She said she doesn't need protection."

"Is she doing all right?"

Niall awkwardly stood with the charm in his palm. "I think so."

Harry nodded and closed Niall's hand around the necklace before pushing his hair back and slipping a hand behind his back, guiding them both to the exit. "Keep it."

"Will they come after me again?"

"No. I don't think so. I think it was a warning or something. A lesson to everybody else."

Niall paused. Harry glanced at him, catching the hesitation in the way he was walking.

"Hey," he cooed gently. "Hey, nothing's going to happen. We're done. It's fine."


End file.
